Foreign and Commonwealth Office

North Korea: Human Rights

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 28 February (HL Deb, col 714), whether at the 34th session of the UN Human Rights Council they will support recommendations (1) to establish an ad hoc tribunal, or (2) to refer North Korea to the International Criminal Court.

baroness anelay of st johns: The UK welcomes the recent UN Group of Independent Experts report on accountability for those who commit human rights violations in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK). We support further work on their recommendations by the Special Rapporteur on DPRK Human Rights and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to ensure the most effective framework for accountability can be established.

Turkey: Kurds

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what reports they have received from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on alleged massacres by the Turkish army and gendarmerie in Cizre, Sur, Nusaybin and villages in South-East Turkey; and what is their response.

baroness anelay of st johns: We are aware of reports of civilian casualties and a worsening humanitarian situation in certain areas of south east Turkey. We believe Turkey has a legitimate right to defend itself against the PKK, whose attacks we condemn. As in any conflict, it is vital that civilian casualties are avoided and human rights fully protected. We urge the Turkish authorities to engage with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Juhel Miah

the marquess of lothian: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what explanation they have received from the US authorities for the refusal to allow British citizen Juhel Miah to fly to New York on 16 February.

baroness anelay of st johns: The US authorities do not comment on individual cases but have confirmed the incident was not related to President Trump’s January 27 Executive Order, which had been suspended. We have provided Mr Miah with consular support and will continue to offer assistance to British nationals but we cannot influence US immigration decisions.

USA: Foreign Relations

the marquess of lothian: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Foreign Secretary discussed (1) the US administration's immigration and refugee policies, and (2) relations with Russia, during his meeting with the US Secretary of State in February.

baroness anelay of st johns: The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson), met US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Bonn on 16 February. During the meeting they reaffirmed our two countries shared goals and agreed to work together on a range of global issues including Russia.

Department of Health

In Vitro Fertilisation

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord O’Shaughnessy on 28 February (HL5495), whether, and if so when, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) directly requested any evidence from Dr Valery Zukin or members of his team since publishing its report on 30 November 2016; what assessment it has made of that evidence; whether it has received any evidence from other researchers on pronuclear transfer as specifically applied to patient treatments in a clinical context, and if so, from whom; or if no evidence has been sought from individuals with clinical experience of pronuclear transfer, why the HFEA has not taken into consideration the arguments of those known to have such experience.

lord o'shaughnessy: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that the work of the expert panel was to consider evidence relating to the use of mitochondrial donation techniques for the prevention of serious mitochondrial disease. Dr Zukin’s work relates to the use of the pronuclear transfer donation technique for fertility reasons only and is, therefore, of limited relevance to the techniques permitted by The Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Mitochondrial Donation) Regulations 2015. For that reason, neither the expert panel nor the HFEA have requested evidence directly from Dr Zukin. As the most recent expert panel report has made clear, the panel did consider an article reporting a pregnancy derived from human zygote pronuclear transfer published in Reproductive BioMedicine Online in August 2016.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Brexit

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recent proposal by the British Chamber of Commerce that Brexit should be postponed if a trade deal with the EU does not materialise by the end of the negotiation process under Article 50.

lord bridges of headley: The Government strongly believes it is possible to achieve a good deal that works for the EU and the UK. The Government is also committed to providing certainty to business at the earliest opportunity. Article 50 is clear that once a Member State has notified the European Council of their intention to leave, the negotiation process can only be extended with unanimous agreement of the European Council and the Member state concerned. It is right, however, that the Government should prepare for every eventuality, and as the Prime Minister has made clear, no deal is better than a bad deal.

Cars: UK Trade with EU

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to respond to requests for tariff-free access to the single market for car manufacturers in the UK.

lord bridges of headley: We will pursue a bold and ambitious Free Trade Agreement with the European Union. We want Britain to have the greatest possible tariff and barrier free trade in goods and services with our European neighbours. The UK's automotive sector is world leading and a strong common ground exists between ourselves and other EU member states. It is in our shared interest to reach an ambitious agreement.